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Meet Raspberry Pi NoIR, an infrared camera board for low light photography
If Raspberry Pi owners wanted to use the device's camera board for nighttime photography, they had to engage in some extremely delicate tinkering, as the unit's IR filter was firmly attached. Until now. The folks at Raspberry Pi took to their blog today to announce the debut of Pi NoIR, an infrared camera board designed with low light situations in mind. The NoIR stands for "no infrared," a reference to the nonexistent IR filter. Previously, the supplier of the existing camera package didn't offer an infrared option, but so many users, including wildlife photographers, requested the ability to use their Raspberry Pis in a wider variety of situations that the company was eventually persuaded to build the new camera. The team is aiming for a November launch, but so far, no release date is set in stone. To see footage shot with the Pi NoIR, check out the videos after the break.
HTC Mini+ companion device coming to the UK with added functionality
When the HTC Butterfly (better known as the Droid DNA here in the US) launched in China several months ago, it was soon followed by a companion device called the HTC Mini. This accessory -- not to be confused with HTC's One mini -- is basically designed to be a Bluetooth handset and remote control for the larger smartphone. It features NFC for pairing, plus a numeric keypad and monochrome LCD. What's more intriguing, however, is that UK retailer Clove recently outed an update to the product -- the HTC Mini+ -- which gains an IR blaster and the ability to remote control a variety of TVs, along with HTC's Media Link HD. The companion device is expected to be available soon fort £54.16 (about $83) before taxes.
These specs preserve your privacy in a world of cameras (video)
Since surveillance culture is at the top of the news agenda, this new invention from Japan's National Institute of Informatics couldn't be more timely. It's a pair of goggles that blocks facial recognition algorithms and ensures that no one can snap a pic of your mug without your permission. The wearable uses 11 near-infrared LEDs that shine a bright light. It's invisible to humans, but enough to dazzle any passing cameras. Admittedly, the technology is useless for cameras that aren't sensitive to infrared, which is why the institute is also experimenting with reflective materials that'll work with any imaging sensor -- but that, unfortunately, isn't quite ready for prime time. Curious to see it in action? Head on past the break for the video.
Infrared holography lets rescuers see people through walls, fire, walls of fire (video)
Firefighters already use infrared cameras to find people in burning buildings, but the technology can't distinguish between a person's heat and that of the surrounding fire. That's because a zoom lens is needed to concentrate the infrared rays in a way that enables the apparatus to form a human-readable image. Fortunately, a team of researchers from the Italian Institute of Optics has developed a system that ditches the lens in favor of digital holography that produces detailed 3D images in the darkness. The hardware isn't out of short trousers just yet, but the team is planning to develop a portable version for field work -- and chief Pietro Ferraro hopes that the idea will be co-opted by the aerospace and biomedical industries, too. Curious to see what all the fuss is about? Head on past the break for a video.
HTC releases IR API, looking for a few good devs
In an effort to usher its newest flagship's infrared capabilities to the masses, HTC is adding an IR API to its OpenSense SDK. Starting today, developers interested in creating applications that use the One's IR blaster can request the software kit directly from the company. By making this API available to the masses, HTC hopes to build a stable of apps unique to its new hardware, kicking things off with Sense 5's integrated universal TV remote control software. Devs looking to ease the pain of Logitech's plans to kill off the Harmony -- or those interested in more details -- can find just that via the source link below.
Lego Mindstorms EV3 arrives tailored for mobile, infrared and more hackability
Lego's Mindstorms kits were born into a world where the PC reigned supreme for control; the company is ushering in 2013 with an acknowledgment that its build-it-yourself toy is part of a much wider universe. Its updated Mindstorms EV3 runs on new Linux firmware that's ready for Android and iOS control out of the box, creates an overall more hackable platform and allows further programming on the core Intelligent Brick itself; accordingly, there's an SD card slot for local storage. A built-in infrared sensor expands the possibilities for a more autonomous design, as well -- Lego suggests that EV3 constructs can follow other moving gadgets, or even their creators, around the room. It should also be the first Lego bundle with its own 3D construction guide, as a new app built with Autodesk's help lets builders see the process from every angle. We won't have the chance to put a kit together until the EV3 line ships in the second half of the year, but Lego already expects the core unit to sell for $350. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
University of Montreal detects an orbitless planet, shows that stars don't have an iron grip (video)
Astronomers have long theorized that there are many planets that have drifted away from their home stars, whether it's a too-loose gravitational pull during the planet's formation or a stellar tug-of-war. We've never had a reasonable chance of locating such a wanderer until today, however. The University of Montreal believes it has spotted CFBDSIR2149, an awkwardly-named gas giant four to seven times larger than Jupiter, floating by itself in the AB Doradus Moving Group of young stars. Scientists made the discovery first by pinpointing their target through infrared images from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and later using the Very Large Telescope to deduce that the object was both too small to be a star as well as hot and young enough (752F and under 120 million years old) to fit the behavior of a planet orphaned early into its existence. With CFBDSIR2149's nature largely locked down, the challenge now is learning just how common such lonely examples can be; when it's much easier to focus on the stars while hunting for planets, finding any more strays could prove to be a daunting task.
Kinect for Windows SDK gets accelerometer and infrared input, reaches China and Windows 8 desktops
Microsoft had hinted that there were big things in store for its update to the Kinect for Windows SDK on October 8th. It wasn't bluffing; developers can now tap a much wider range of input than the usual frantic arm-waving. Gadgets that move the Kinect itself can use the accelerometer to register every tilt and jolt, while low-light fans can access the raw infrared sensor stream. The Redmond crew will even even let coders go beyond the usual boundaries, giving them access to depth information beyond 13 feet, fine-tuning the camera settings and tracking skeletal data from multiple sensors inside of one app. Just where we use the SDK has been expanded as well -- in addition to promised Chinese support, Kinect input is an option for Windows 8 desktop apps. Programmers who find regular hand control just too limiting can hit the source for the download link and check Microsoft's blog for grittier detail.
Fraunhofer develops extra-small 1Gbps infrared transceiver, recalls our PDA glory days
Our 1997-era selves would die with envy right about now. Fraunhofer has developed a new generation of infrared transceiver that can transfer data at 1Gbps, or well above anything that our vintage PDAs could manage. While the speed is nothing new by itself -- we saw such rates in 2010 Penn State experiments -- it's the size that makes the difference. The laser diode and processing are efficient enough to fit into a small module whose transceiver is as large as a "child's fingernail." In theory, the advancement makes infrared once more viable for mobile device syncing, with room to grow: even the current technology can scale to 3Gbps, lead researcher Frank Deicke says, and it might jump to 10Gbps with enough work. Along with the usual refinements, most of the challenge in getting production hardware rests in persuading the Infrared Data Association to adopt Deicke's work as a standard. If that ever comes to pass, we may just break out our PalmPilot's infrared adapter to try it for old time's sake.
Fraunhofer black silicon could catch more energy from infrared light, go green with sulfur
Generating solar power from the infrared spectrum, or even nearby frequencies, has proven difficult in spite of a quarter of the Sun's energy passing through those wavelengths. The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications may have jumped that hurdle to efficiency through sulfur -- one of the very materials that solar energy often helps eliminate. By irradiating ordinary silicon through femtosecond-level laser pulses within a sulfuric atmosphere, the technique melds sulfur with silicon and makes it easier for infrared light electrons to build into the frenzy needed for conducting electricity. The black-tinted silicon that results from the process is still in the early stages and needs improvements to automation and refinement to become a real product, but there's every intention of making that happen: Fraunhofer plans a spinoff to market finished laser systems for solar cell builders who want their own black silicon. If all goes well, the darker shade of solar panels could lead to a brighter future for clean energy.
Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac
Over the years we've come across a few signs that pointed to the possibility of touchscreen-enabled iMacs, but Steve Jobs had already dismissed this as a possibility for current Mac form factors. Quoting the man at the "Back to the Mac" keynote from two years ago: "It gives great demo, but after a while your arm feels like it's going to fall off. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal." So perhaps our fantasy's still stuck in the "research project" phase. Luckily, the more adventurous touchscreen lovers can look to third-party solutions. For MacBooks you have Axiotron's Modbook, except you lose the keyboard and you can't perform the modification yourself. As for iMacs and Cinema Displays, we've been following Troll Touch for its resistive touchscreen replacement panels, but they aren't exactly affordable and most of them have to be installed by the company. Even its user-installable SlipCover series starts from $899, anyway. This leaves us with the Zorro Macsk, a cheekily named iMac accessory hailing from TMDtouch of Shenzhen, China. The 21.5-inch model is priced at just $199 on Amazon with no modifications required. Plus, it supports multitouch -- a glaring omission from Troll Touch's Mac lineup. So is this truly a bargain? Or is it just a case of "you get what you pay for?" Follow past the break to see how we got on with the Zorro Macsk.%Gallery-165013%
$49 Cubieboard for developers is heavy on specs, light on the wallet
You've already got plenty of options if you're in the market for a developer board, but it might be worth taking a look at the new $49 Cubieboard, which packs quite the specs given its price point. The board hosts a 1GHz AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 CPU with Mali-400 GPU, 1GB of RAM and 4 gigs of onboard storage. For ins and outs, you're looking at 1080p HDMI, Ethernet, one MultiMediaCard (MMC) slot, a SATA port, two USB hosts, an IR sensor and 96 extender pins for solder junkies. Cubieboard's Wiki page lists an additional MMC slot and USB OTG, but as this doesn't check out in the pictures, we assume they've either been scrapped, or they'll be added on for later production runs. As you would expect, several versions of Linux and Android are supported by the Raspberry Pi bully, which is expected to start shipping to select developers sometime this week. There's no word on when it may be available for general consumption, but by then you'll hopefully have a better product anyway -- if the pros have done their job, that is.
Microsoft patent applications take Kinect into mobile cameras, movie-making
Microsoft has never been shy about its ambitions for Kinect's depth sensing abilities. A pair of patent applications, however, show that its hopes and dreams are taking a more Hollywood turn. One patent has the depth camera going portable: a "mobile environment sensor" determines its trajectory through a room and generates a depth map as it goes, whether it's using a Kinect-style infrared sensor or stereoscopic cameras. If the visual mapping isn't enough, the would-be camera relies on a motion sensor like an accelerometer to better judge its position as it's jostled around. Microsoft doesn't want to suggest what kind of device (if any) might use the patent for its camera, but it's not ruling out anything from smartphones through to traditional PCs. The second patent filing uses the Kinect already in the house for that directorial debut you've always been putting off. Hand gestures control the movie editing, but the depth camera both generates a model of the environment and creates 3D props out of real objects. Motion capture, naturally, lets the humans in the scene pursue their own short-lived acting careers. We haven't seen any immediate signs that Microsoft is planning to use this or the mobile sensor patent filing in the real world, although both are closer to reality than some of the flights of fancy that pass by the USPTO -- the movie editor has all the hallmarks of a potential Dashboard update or Kinect Fun Labs project.
DARPA Innovation House project wants teams to take imaging data, see the big picture
Where are the bad guys? The military has eyes and ears everywhere these days, including drones large and tiny, satellites, radar imaging, LIDAR, infrared, thermal and even the enemy's own cellphones. The problem is how to take all that imaging and create a single picture of the environment. To that end, DARPA and George Mason University in Arlington have created the first Innovation House Project, which will put eight teams together for eight weeks in a "crucible-style" living environment to try to invent new ways of crunching the diverse sensor info. The military's research arm wants those units to think way off-piste "without fear of failure" to dream up solutions, and will have access to specialists and mentors from the military and academia. Unlike DARPA's usual challenges which have a grand prize, all teams accepted to the project will receive $30,000 in funding, but groups who go on to survive a four week cut will get an additional $20K. Proposals will be accepted up to July 31 (with no academic credentials needed), and the competition will begin in earnest on September 17. DARPA will get a license of any software created, allowing teams to hold the rights -- and hopes to continue the concept down the road, with new themes for team-based research on a tight deadline. So, if you're a data, imaging or "geospatial" whiz -- and don't mind being locked in a house and put under the brainstorming gun by DARPA -- check the PR for all the details.
All-carbon solar cell draws power from near-infrared light, our energy future is literally that much brighter
What's this orange-like patch, you ask? It's a layer of carbon nanotubes on silicon, and it might just be instrumental to getting a lot more power out of solar cells than we're used to. Current solar power largely ignores near-infrared light and wastes about 40 percent of the potential energy it could harness. A mix of carbon nanotubes and buckyballs developed by MIT, however, can catch that near-infrared light without degrading like earlier composites. The all-carbon formula doesn't need to be thickly spread to do its work, and it simply lets visible light through -- it could layer on top of a traditional solar cell to catch many more of the sun's rays. Most of the challenge, as we often see for solar cells, is just a matter of improving the energy conversion rate. Provided the researchers can keep refining the project, we could be looking at a big leap in solar power efficiency with very little extra footprint, something we'd very much like to see on the roof of a hybrid sedan.
Retina Display MacBook Pro lacks IR sensor, is Apple offing the remote?
It appears that Apple is ditching the remote control on the latest retina-display MacBook Pro. Our side-by-side comparisons yesterday revealed the new hardware doesn't have an infra-red receiver. The news compelled a reader to contact Apple's support service, which apparently confirmed that the accessory won't work on the new laptop. We'll keep you updated when we know more. [Thanks, Robert]
Insert Coin: Sensordrone lets your smartphone monitor temperature, air quality, inebriation
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Sensordrome is an attempt to pair a sensor-heavy dongle with your smartphone. The result is something slightly Star Trek, with the device connecting across Bluetooth to share a wealth of data on what's going on around you. Pledging over $149 to the Kickstarter project will net investors a spot on the first production run, while over $99 will land you a beta version for slightly zealous devs and testers. The sensor array includes some standard offerings like temperature and humidity but it also throws in a light sensor, non-contact IR thermometer and barometer. It can also analyze breath alcohol levels, and detect Carbon Monoxide and even gas leaks. Throw in an expansion connector to open up even more options, including medical equipment like blood pressure monitors, and you can see why it's piqued our interest. Sensors aside, the gadget will hook-up with Android (other platforms will be considered in the future) and will be able to connect to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. Sensordrone can offer up its data in three different ways; call-respond mode will give you immediate read-outs, while streaming mode will send continuous data to your phone. Data logging mode will store the same data in its built-in memory which can be downloaded later as a .csv file -- and should mean graphs abound. Sensordrone's application software will also be open-source, allowing plenty more apps to utilize that sensor medley in the future. We'd still love a built-in radiation detector though. That aside, you can take a tour of Sensordrone's talents after the break. How can you say no to that face? Previous project update: Motion-controlled sword-em-up Clang has just under a month left to go and has notched up just shy of $160,000 for the project -- all from under 3,100 backers. However, plenty of support is still needed to reach its heady $500,000 target.
Leap Motion gesture control technology hands-on
Leap Motion unveiled its new gesture control technology earlier this week, along with videos showing the system tracking ten fingers with ease and a single digit slicing and dicing a grocery store's worth of produce in Fruit Ninja. Still, doubts persisted as to the veracity of the claim that the Leap is 200 times more accurate than existing tech. So, we decided to head up to San Francisco to talk with the men behind Leap, David Holz and Michael Buckwald, and see it for ourselves. Join us after the break to learn a bit more about Leap, our impressions of the technology, and a video of the thing in action.%Gallery-156126%
Google patent application could give Project Glass one true ring controller to rule them all
Let's face it: right now, the head nods and other rudimentary controls of Google's Project Glass are mostly useful for looking good, sharing photos and not much else. A US patent application submitted last September and just now published, however, raises the possibility of more sophisticated control coming from your hands. A ring, a bracelet or a even a fake fingernail with an infrared-reflective layer would serve as a gesture control marker for a receiver on heads-up display glasses. Having this extra control would give the glasses-mounted computing room to grow by learning gestures, and it could even depend on multiple ornaments for more sophisticated commands -- at least, if you don't mind looking like a very nerdy Liberace. We can imagine the headaches a hand-based method might cause for very enthusiastic talkers, among other possible hiccups, so don't be surprised if Project Glass goes without any kind of ring input. That said, we suspect that Sauron would approve.
Nintendo patent application tech tracks your DS from above, serves as tour guide
Nintendo is already guiding you through the Louvre with a 3DS, but a newly published US patent application takes that kind of tourism to a very literal new level. Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto's concept describes a way to direct lost tourists by beaming position information through an overhead grid of infrared transmitters to a mobile device (portrayed as a DS Lite) held by the confused visitor below. The handheld then talks wirelessly to a server that lights up floor displays with maps and directions, and a helpful app on the device lets visitors pick their route while they read up on sightseeing tips. Like with any patent, there's no certainty that Nintendo will act on the idea and start wiring up museums with IR blasters, but the January 2012 patent may still be fresh in a frequently inventive mind like Miyamoto's.
